Bioeconomy News

A global report involving researchers from Potsdam shows how the global economy would benefit from an agricultural and food transition and underlines the urgent need to revise the political framework.

The Berlin start-up Vyld has raised millions from investors as part of an early-stage financing round, thereby securing the further development of its seaweed products.

The Hamburg-based biotech company Infinite Roots - formerly Mushlabs - has secured 58 million US dollars in a Series B financing round for the development and production of new meat substitutes based on mushroom mycelium.

Under the leadership of the University of Magdeburg, a European research consortium wants to combine two medical imaging techniques for the first time and make them usable for agriculture.

A new EU project involving researchers from Ruhr University Bochum is focusing on the development of unused biomass resources in Europe.

A new English-language Master's degree course that combines agricultural science, economics and politics will start at the Technical University of Munich in the winter semester 2024/2025 and is the only one of its kind in Europe.

Regional hop harvest residues are the raw material used by a founding team at the Technical University of Munich to develop sustainable building materials. Acoustic panels made from hops are to be launched on the market this year.

A Franco-German research team has used genome editing to produce rice plants that are resistant to the Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV).

The resource database of the German Biomass Research Center now provides a complete overview of all biogenic residual and waste materials available in Germany and the EU.

Soils are a key resource for the bioeconomy. However, climate change and industrial agriculture have damaged around 60% of soils in Europe, as the recently published Soil Atlas 2024 reveals.

Paludiculture in rewetted fens not only promotes biodiversity, but also provides a new habitat for endangered animal and plant species. This is shown by a study by the University of Greifswald.

The microbe Electronema is a current-conducting bacteria. They promote the breakdown of pollutants and reduce the formation of greenhouse gases in seas and lakes.

Researchers have elucidated the structure of the enzyme complex iron nitrogenase in order to better utilize its function.

For the development of resource-saving sodium-ion batteries based on lignin and hemicellulose, researchers at Aalen University are receiving around one million euros from the Carl Zeiss Foundation.

Max Planck researcher Caroline Gutjahr from Potsdam has been awarded one of the coveted Consolidator Grants from the European Research Council (ERC) for her research into the coexistence of plants and symbiotic fungi in soil.

The state government has decided to set up a Bioeconomy Council to drive forward the expansion of a bio-based and sustainable economy in North Rhine-Westphalia. The 15-member advisory body will begin its work in January 2024.

Molecular biologist Tobias Erb receives the Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation, endowed with 2.5 million euros, for his pioneering work in the field of synthetic biology.

Researchers at Munich University of Applied Sciences have developed a process that for the first time enables the efficient cultivation of lime-producing bacteria and thus the commercial use of "self-healing concrete".

The Swiss specialty chemicals company Clariant is discontinuing the loss-making production of cellulosic ethanol from straw at its plant in Romania, which was only opened in 2022. Corresponding activities in Straubing, Munich and Planegg will also be shut down.

Three federal ministers were present at the Bioeconomy Forum in Berlin. In front of more than 200 participants, they emphasized the potential of a sustainable, bio-based economy and made it clear what is important now.